Day 17 Yukon River

Sitting by a fire ring at Slavens Roadhouse on the Mighty Yukon.

It’s a beautiful evening on the Yukon. The river cuts a wide valley through the vast landscape of Interior Alaska. I just chopped wood for the fire that we’re enjoying up a small hill from the public use cabin called Slavens Roadhouse in the Yukon Charlie National Preserve.

There is one Ranger stationed here, an Alaskan who grew up in a fish camp just outside the park boundaries. A mild mannered man, he introduced us to his family: a wife and two young children. They spend 8 months of the year here at the Roadhouse. No phones, no computers, no next door neighbors. Just family and the wild land.

I love going into the wilderness because it resets my mind. In our everyday society, living in towns and cities, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in things that don’t really matter. Big house, nice car, money and notoriety. In the wilderness I realize that a simple life is a good life. A beautiful place to live, family, good people and room to breathe and roam. A cabin in the forest or mountains outside of expectations would do me just fine.

We spent the day once again with Jere and Scott. It's comical listening to them navigate the river and talk through decisions. Both being US Vets, they use acronyms for everything and talk through miniscule decisions miles before they need to be made. Meanwhile, Jack and I are floating along, bungeed to the side of their Yukon Select boat, along for the ride and enjoying every second of it.

After pulling up to Slavens Cabin and talking with the ranger, he and his family left to go fishing for the evening. The walk from the river's edge to our cabin was a quarter mile jaunt up a small hill. Just as we started to load gear from the boats to begin the heavy haul up the hill, the sound of an engine firing pulsed through the trees. Moments later Scott emerged on top a four-wheeler, ripping down the trail in an old silver helmet. With a big ass grin on his face, he pulled up next to us.
“Load up boys!!”

Cracking up, I loaded all of our food onto the quad that Scott had lovingly “borrowed” from the ranger while the ranger was out fishing.

“No harm no foul boys! We’ll put it right back and he’ll never even know we took it.”

Once settled into our cabin for the night, Jackson cooked pasta for the group as we enjoyed the midnight sun. Good company, good times, beautiful country.
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Day 17 of a 70 day expedition canoeing the length of the Yukon River, Source to Sea, Summer of 2018 #buffaloroamer @ Yukon-Charley Rivers National Park